Bman's Blues Report

 I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Morning Star , from Thomas Heflin and it's a smooth, pop jazz effort led by trumpet player Thomas Heflin. Opening with title track, Morning Star , the Slavic translation of Heflin's wife's name. Heflin on trumpet, is backed by Gregory Tardy on sax, Dan Hitchcock on tenor sax, Peter Stoltzman on keys, Aaron Matson on guitar, Steve Haines on bass, Xavier Ware on drums and Jorge Luis Torres on percussion. With a step up solo by Heflin and a fluid sax solo by Tardy, this is a solid opener. Interlude is one of my favorite tracks on the release with it's jagged rhythm pattern and adventurous trumpet lead by Heflin. Haiku has a really cool intro ... just Heflin on trumpet derived from a jazz favorite, Stablemates by Benny Golson. As the track progresses, Tardy lays in some really adventurous sax lines, nice trumpet improvisation by Heflin and a strong bass lead by Haines. The Moon Singer is inspired by a book by...

 I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Bluish Tide , from the Kristen R. Bromley Quintet , and it's cool and versatile. Opening with swinging, Pillar of Fire , band leader and guitarist, Kristen Bromley shows her chops with fluid lead runs and cool rhythm lead, joined by Ray Smith who lays down a solid solo of his own on sax, Steve Erickson who really does a nice job Matt Larson on bass and Jay Lawrence on drums. Tandem lead guitar and sax and a cool off time rhythm really gives Faith Preceded My Miracle a real leg up making it a firm platform for potent soloing from Bromley, Erickson and Smith. Title track, Bluish Tide is a soft swinger with dual sax/guitar melodic lead. Opening into a bop solo stage, set by Larson and Lawrence, Bromley sets up some of her tastiest lead work on the release. Smith lays in a nice sax solo and Erickson's piano work really grooves.  Bromley's rich chord work on the intro of Latin influenced, Paint Me a Picture My Love...

 I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Crown , from Eric Gales and it's powerful. Opening with Death of Me , a solid blues rocker with metal overtones. With a heavy drum stamped bottom by Greg Morrow and Lemar Carter this track has real swagger. Gales has never been bashful about throwing heavy guitar riffs out there and this track is no exception. His Jimi influence is ever present but not overtelling, backed by Joe Bonamassa on rhythm guitar, Josh Smith on rhythm guitar and Michael Rhodes on bass and backing vocals by LaDonna Gales. Very cool. I really like soul track, Stand Up with it's radio quality. Gales really shines on vocals on this track with it's super melody and with it's rich bass work and backing vocals by Jade McCrae, this track is strong. Another track with a heavy bottom is Survivor and it's lumbering feel lays open a grand floor for ultra fluid soloing by Gales. A lush guitar chord laden intro on Too Close To The Fire rea...

 I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, October is Marigold , by David Cross and Andrew Keeling . This is a very interesting release spanning classical, rock, progressive and even eurojazz. Cross, who has played violin with King Crimson and Keeling who has collaborated with Robert Fripp are together for their second composition as a follow up to their earlier 2009 release, English Sun. This is largely improvised music so more difficult to describe in a traditional way, but it is mind expanding and enjoyable and should be viewed as a singular piece of music with many interwoven movements... so here goes. Opening with Marigold 1 , Keeling on piano presents a simple piano structure composed of two chords and Cross plays a beautiful melody on Violectra. Very nice. On title track, October is Marigold , Kelling again constructs a structure on keyboard but then interweaves layers of flute.  As the theme progresses, Cross adds electric violin to the weave for a ...

 I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Savage's Life , from The Sugar Roots and it's a strong blues rocker. Opening with Going Nowhere Fast , a solid boogie, Chad Rupp on lead vocal and harmonica really pumps it up with excellent guitar support from JT Thomas, Samuel Gendler on piano, Timmer Blakely on bass and Chandler Bowerman on drums. Excellent opener. Title track, Savage's Life is really impressive with Rapp laying down some of the most supple vocals I've heard in quite a while. I've always been partial to Bobby Tench (Jeff Beck Group) and Rupp, who's voice is cut from the same cloth is great. With only the minimal of backing instrumental, a tight little guitar solo by Blakely and great backing vocals by Melanie Owen, Lisa Mann, Karen Lovely and Rae Gordon, I love this track. Funky, Rain Checkin' , is really cool with a bouncy bottom courtesy of Blakely and Bowerman and Lloyd Jones really shines on guitar with hot horn backing ...

  I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release (January 28, 2022), blues approved , from Sam Moss and it's jam packed with soulful, Muscle Shoals/Stax influenced blues. Opening with Rooster Blood , a blues rocker featuring Moss on lead vocal, bass and guitar, and backed by Mitch Easter on drums is a great start to this release. On King of My Hill , Moss shows how soulful his vocals can be with a strong similarity to Gregg Allman and horn backing by Crispin Cioe. A strong R&B style track with that pure, country soul feel really makes you think it's right out of Alabama. Vida Blanche is one of my favorite tracks on the release with it's Keith Richards/Stones attack, solid slide playing and strong sax work by Cioe. Very cool! Mike Bloomfield's, If You See My Baby really swings right in there giving moss an opportunity to show a bit more diversity both vocally and on guitar. Joining on bass is Henry Heidtmann and Ted Lyons on drums with Wezo Wesolowski...

  I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Bigman , from BIGLLOU Johnson and it a solid R&B / blues set. Opening with Lightnin' Strike , an up tempo blues strut, BIGLLOU stylistically speaks the story, backed by Mark Early on sax, Doug Woolverton on trumpet, Bill Overton on clarinet and Dwight Dukes, Terrence Grayson, Ellison Hall, Amanda Joyce, keith Sweat Monique Whittington and Monico Whittington on backing vocals. With a rumbling bass and crisp harmonica wailing by Russ Green, Chill On Cold has a great bluesy feel. Shucky Ducky (Quack Quack) has a tight Latin rhythm courtesy Ricky Nelson on drums and Kalyan Pathak on percussion and the addition of Anthony Dopsie on accordion adds a special texture. BIGLLOU had a terrific, deep voice and that timbre really comes through on this track. I Got The Fever is my favorite track on the release with it's slow, thick oozing blues. BIGLLOU really grinds out the deep vocal like nobody can and with nice pian...

 I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Screaming Into The Void , by Brandon Tesky and it's quite enjoyable. Opening with title track, Screaming Into The Void , band leader and guitarist lays down a cool rock blues rock riff backed by Chris Tex on drums and Jon Nadel on bass. Establishing this solid instrumental, Tesky opens up with a cool onslaught of blues lead making this a solid opening jam. Blues progression, Vertigo on the heights of Desire is a cool, blues ballad with Tesky again at the lead on melodic guitar lead, backed by Will Kyriazis on keys and Tex on drums. With it's beautiful melody, this is a very cool track. King shuffle, Side Tracked , has a distinctive Freddie King vibe showing Tesky's blues knowledge and solid dexterity. Dance of the Fiddler's Bitch is a cool blues rocker blending SRV style swagger with more contemporary guitar riffs, Changing keys as Tesky rolls from phrase to phrase, I can definitely see Frank Marino influ...

 I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Drink More , from The Country Well and it's an interesting change of pace.    Opening with light country influenced, Gifted Spirit , featuring Graham Guest on vocal and guitar, and Bob Hemenger on sax. Cool opener. Another country pop track (think JJ Cale) with an interesting weave is Wigwam . Guest again leads the way on guitar and lead vocal, backed by Lyle Evans on bass, and Josh Kelly on drums. With a Bootsy Collins like bass bottom by Evans, and a firm cowbell by Kelly, Big Country Love is a cool groove. Michael Batdorf has the lead on vocal and Adam Rossi on keyboards really dig in. one of my favorite tracks on the release is ballad, Drinkin' and Smokin' featuring michela French on lead vocal and a nice sax solo by Hemenger. Wrapping the release is title track, Drink More , a cool, bluegrass track featuring Michela French on lead vocal. With Guest on guitar, Mark Karan on guitar, Don Zimmer on guitar, ...